Method of operating a distributed call progress tone detection system

ABSTRACT

A method of operating a distributed call progress tone detection system. In one embodiment, the method includes: (1) receiving requests from an application over said packet network and transmitting transmit call and control processing commands to a switching partition via a main control unit, (2) providing an interface to corresponding access nodes via line interface modules, (3) generating a call on a first of said line interface modules, (4) employing an input-output distributor to interconnect a call progress tone detector and said first of said line interface modules to allow said call progress tone detector to perform a call progress tone detection analysis and generate an indication thereof with respect to said first of said line interface modules and (5) creating an interconnection between said first of said line interface modules and a second of said line interface modules based on said indication via said input-output distributor and notifying said application of said interconnection.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/074,813, entitled “DISTRIBUTED CALL PROGRESS TONE DETECTION SYSTEMAND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOF”, filed on Feb. 13, 2002, by L. DavidChambers, et al., which is currently pending. The above-listedapplication is commonly assigned with the present invention and isincorporated herein by reference as if reproduced herein in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed, in general, to communications systemsand, more specifically, to a distributed call progress tone detectionsystem couplable to a packet network and a method of operating the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional switching platforms are advantageously employed intelecommunications systems to facilitate, for instance, private branchexchange (PBX) administered interoffice communications or switching andcall queuing functionality for a call center. Call centers are employedin a multitude of applications such as telemarketing, customer serviceand sales support applications. A call center is typically embodied in acentral location wherein inbound calls, outbound calls, or a combinationthereof are processed by an organization in association with computerautomation. The call center generally employs a number of agents whocommunicate with customers via telephone, facsimile, electronic mail, orother communication techniques or devices. The call center has theability to handle a considerable volume of communication traffic at thesame time in association with automation techniques such as call routingand equitable distribution, call screening, agent skill matching, andother resource optimization and management reporting functionality.

A switching platform employable with a call center typically includes acomputer server system that provides call and control processingfunctions for the call center. The computer server system may employ anumber of input-output distributor cards connectable via a multibusinterface. Each input-output distributor card provides an interface froma main control unit to a switching matrix, which is capable ofcontrolling a number of line cards. The line cards provide the physicalinterface to access nodes, which may include digital and analoginstruments and digital and analog trunks.

The call centers that employ a switching platform, however, suffer froma number of deficiencies. More specifically, the call centers have aproblem in determining if a person answered the phone call. In a typicalcall center, a call center application makes a call to a recipient viathe switching platform. The switching platform then determines when thecall at the receiving is answered and informs a call center application.Then, the call center application must find an available agent andinform the call center's computer server system to connect the agent tothe phone call. The time between the phone call being answered and anagent connecting to the phone call could be a noticeable period of time.If a person answered the call, the person would hear a period of silenceand may cause the person to hang-up. Thus, the call center would lose apotential customer.

Another call center deficiency is not being able to determine whatanswered the phone call. If the call center application does not know ifa person answered the call, an agent could be connected to an answeringmachine instead of a person. This could result in a loss of anotherpotential customer.

Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system that overcomes thedeficiencies of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, thepresent invention provides a method of operating a distributed callprogress tone detection system couplable to a packet network. In oneembodiment, the method includes: (1) receiving requests from anapplication over said packet network and transmitting transmit call andcontrol processing commands to a switching partition via a main controlunit, (2) providing an interface to corresponding access nodes via lineinterface modules, (3) generating a call on a first of said lineinterface modules, (4) employing an input-output distributor tointerconnect a call progress tone detector and said first of said lineinterface modules to allow said call progress tone detector to perform acall progress tone detection analysis and generate an indication thereofwith respect to said first of said line interface modules and (5)creating an interconnection between said first of said line interfacemodules and a second of said line interface modules based on saidindication via said input-output distributor and notifying saidapplication of said interconnection.

The present invention introduces, in one aspect, a distributed callprogress tone detection system employable in a packet network. Thedistributed call progress tone detection system includes a switchingpartition having a input-output distributor and line interface modulesto provide connectivity to a circuit switched environment over apacket-based network. Thus, the switching platform provides theadvantages normally associated with a circuit switched environment,while, at the same time, transporting communications control datapackets containing call set-up/tear-down and other interim and relatedcall processing and control messages over a packet network.

The distributed call progress tone detection system also can monitorcalls employing a call progress tone detector to determine the processof a call, such as generating an indication that a person answered thecall. Depending upon the progress of the call, the distributed callprogress tone detection system may also find an available agent,associated with a line interface module, and interconnect the agent withthe call and notify an application of the interconnect and/or the callprogress indication. Previous calling systems required that theapplication had to assign an agent to the call thus incurring additionaltime before an agent would answer the call. The present inventionadvantageously reduces the amount of time required for an agent toanswer a call by finding an available agent without waiting for acommand from the application and then notifying the application of theinterconnection.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the call progress tonedetector includes energy detection. In a related embodiment, the callprogress tone detector includes energy detection with guard bandelimination. Energy detection with guard band elimination may be used todetermine, for instance, if a person is speaking, a machine is playing arecorded message or if there is silence.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the call progress tonedetector is further configured to receive at least one tunable parameterand adjust the call progress tone detection analysis on a call-by-callbasis thereof. The at least one tunable parameter, in one embodiment, isselected from the group consisting of: (1) a software answer detecttime, (2) a hardware answer detect time, (3) a ring no answer time, (4)a minimum call answer time, (5) a recorded human speech detect time, (6)a maximum resource wait time, and (7) a pause wait time after speechdetected. Of course, however, other parameters may be used to adjust thecall progress tone detection analysis on a call-by-call basis.

The call progress tone detector, in one embodiment, generates anindication that is selected from the group consisting of: (1) a busytone, (2) a reorder tone, (3) a ring back tone with no answer, (4) ahuman speech with answer quickly, (5) a human speech with pause detectedafter speech, (6) a recorded human speech, (7) a facsimile/modem, (8) aTelco Intercept, and (9) a no energy detected before answer detect timeexpired. In other embodiments, the call progress tone detector maygenerate other types of indications in addition to or in place of theindications listed above.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the line interface modulesare dynamically configurable via program downloads. The line interfacemodules may contain field programmable gate arrays and/ormicroprocessors, such as digital signal processors, that can beconfigured via the downloaded programs. Of course, however, other typesof line interface modules capable of interfacing with telecommunicationequipment are well within the broad scope of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the call progress tonedetector may be embodied within at least one of the line interfacemodules. The call progress tone detector, in another embodiment, may beembodied within software downloaded to at least one of the lineinterface modules. The line interface modules, in yet anotherembodiment, may be universal interface modules that can be dynamicallyconfigured to be a line interface, a call progress tone detector, a tonegenerator or other telecommunication type modules.

The main control unit, in one embodiment, may employ call and controlprocessing commands that selected from the group consisting of: (1) a noanswer supervision command, (2) a use network answer supervisioncommand, (3) a best try full analysis command, and (4) a full callprogress analysis command. The main control unit may use the controlprocessing commands to control the use of the call progress tonedetector and the type of processing to be performed after performing thecall progress tone analysis. Of course, however, other controlprocessing commands are within the broad scope of the present invention.

The main control unit may further notify the application of theindication generated by the call progress tone detector. In a relatedembodiment, the main control unit may concurrently interconnect thefirst and second line interface modules and notify the application ofthe interconnect and/or indication.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the main control unit isfurther configured to auto-terminate a call on the first of the lineinterface modules if an access node coupled to the second of the lineinterface modules is unavailable. In a related embodiment, a timeoutperiod, associated with an availability of the access node, elapsesbefore the main control unit auto-terminates the call. Of course,however, other conditions may be used to auto-terminate the call.

In one embodiment of the present invention, distributed call progresstone detection system further includes the application and wherein theapplication is selected from the group consisting of: (1) anon-predictive dialer, (2) a predictive dialer, (3) an answering machinedialer, and (4) a call center. The application, upon receiving thenotification from the main control unit, may transmit informationassociated with the request to a terminal coupled to a third of the lineinterface modules that is associated with the second of the lineinterface modules.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the circuit is acircuit-switched matrix configured to control and selectivelyinterconnect the line interface modules and the call progress tonedetector. Of course, however, other types of circuits or modules may beused to control and selectively interconnect the line interface modulesand the call progress tone detector.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternativefeatures of the present invention so that those skilled in the art maybetter understand the detailed description of the invention thatfollows. Additional features of the invention will be describedhereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Thoseskilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use thedisclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing ormodifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of thepresent invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize thatsuch equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference isnow made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a distributedcall progress tone detection system constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an enterprise call center withcall progress tone detection constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 3A illustrates an example of a signal employable with a callprogress tone detector having energy detection in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 3B illustrates an example of a signal employable with a callprogress tone detector having energy detection with guard bandelimination in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method ofoperating a distributed call progress tone detection system constructedin accordance with the principles of the present invention; and

FIGS. 5-12 illustrate block diagrams of a distributed call progress tonedetection system with highlighted flow connections corresponding to themethod of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring initially to FIG. 1, illustrated is a block diagram of anembodiment of a distributed call progress tone detection system,generally designated 100, constructed in accordance with the principlesof the present invention. The distributed call progress tone detectionsystem 100 may include a switching partition 140. The switchingpartition 140, in one embodiment, includes line interface modules 146,147, 148, 149 configured to provide an interface to corresponding accessnodes. For the purposes of the present invention, the phrase “configuredto” means that the device, the system or the subsystem includes thenecessary software, hardware, firmware or a combination thereof toaccomplish the stated task. The line interface modules 146, 147, 148,149 may also be dynamically configurable via program downloads. Forexample, each of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149 may bedownloaded with different programs allowing each of the line interfacemodules 146, 147, 148, 149 to perform different functions, to interfacewith different types of access nodes or to interface with differenttypes of transmission media.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first line interface module 146 iscoupled to a Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”) 150 that may beused to connect to an access node that is a customer station 152, suchas a telephone. The second line interface module 147 is coupled to anaccess node that is a terminal 160. The terminal 160 may be aconventional computer system that is capable of displaying informationassociated with the customer station 152, such as a person's name,address and sales related information. Of course, however, the terminal160 is not limited to the information described above. In otherembodiments, the terminal 160 may display additional or different dataand may also include specialized applications.

The third interface module 148 is coupled to an access node that is anagent station 170. The agent station 170 may be a telephone station orany other device or combination of devices that allows an agent (e.g., aperson) to communicate with a customer via the distributed call progresstone detection system 100. The fourth interface module 149 is coupled anagent station 182 via a PSTN 180. Of course, however, the presentinvention is not limited to four line interface modules and the types ofaccess nodes described above. Other embodiments of the present inventionmay have any number of line interface modules that are configured toprovide an interface to different types of access nodes.

The switching partition 140 includes a call progress tone detector(“CPTD”) 145 that is configured to perform call progress tone detectionanalysis. Call progress tone detection analysis includes monitoring acall, determining the progress of the call and generating an indicationthereof. In one embodiment, the CPTD 145 may include energy detection.In another embodiment, the CPTD may include energy detection with guardband elimination. The CPTD 145 may advantageously employ energydetection and energy detection with guard band elimination to allow thedetection of human speech, dual-tone-multi-frequency tones, singletones, noise, silence and other information. Call progress tonedetection analysis employing energy detection and energy detection withguard band elimination is discussed in more detail with respect to FIGS.3A and 3B.

In one embodiment, the CPTD 145 may be embodied within at least one ofthe line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149. In another embodiment,the CPTD 145 may be embodied within software that is downloaded to atleast one of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149. In yetanother embodiment, the CPTD 145 may be embodied within software andhardware that includes a digital signal processor. Of course, however,the present invention is not limited to one CPTD 145. Other embodimentsof the present invention may have any number of the CPTDs.

The CPTD 145, in one embodiment, is further configured to receive atleast one tunable parameter and adjust the call progress tone detectionanalysis on a call-by-call basis thereof. The tunable parameters mayinclude a “software answer detect time,” a “hardware answer detecttime,” a “ring no answer time,” a “minimum call answer time,” a“recorded human speech detect time,” a “pause wait time after speechdetected,” and a “maximum resource wait time.” The software answerdetect time is an amount of time to wait for tone detection. Some typeof energy or hardware answer is expected to be detected before thespecified time period elapses. The hardware answer detect time is anamount of time to continue tone detection by the CPTD 145 after ahardware answer has been detected.

The ring no answer time is an amount of time that reflects how many ringcycles to detect before declaring a “ring no answer” after detecting thepresence of a ring. If speech energy is detected during this interval,the CPTD 145 will abort this timer and begin human speech analysis. Inone embodiment, the CPTD 145 will begin human speech versus recordedspeech analysis. The minimum call answer time is an amount of time thatdetermines what type of human speech analysis to perform if energy thatrepresents human speech is detected prior to or after the specified timeperiod elapsing. The recorded human speech detect time is an amount oftime that represents the amount of a silence interval to detect afterdetecting energy that represents human speech. In one embodiment, theamount of silence detected may be used to determine if a human answeredthe phone or if there is recorded human speech, such as an answeringmachine.

The pause wait time after speech detected is an amount of time betweenthe detection of the first energy that represents human speech andenergy that represents a pause occurring after detecting human speech.In one embodiment, the pause wait time after speech detected may be usedto determine if the energy detected is speech or recorded speech. Themaximum resource wait time is an amount of time the distributed callprogress tone detection system 100 will wait for a call progress tonedetector, such as CPTD 145, to become available. Of course, however, thepresent invention is not limited to the above described tunableparameters. In other embodiments, the CPTD 145 may employ additionaltunable parameters or any number of tunable parameters.

The switching partition 140 is also couplable to a packet network 130.The packet network 130 may be any type of computer network that employsa packet protocol, such as Internet Protocol (“IP”). The packet network130 may also be a Local Area Network (“LAN”), a Wide Area Network(“WAN”), an Intranet, an Extranet, an Internet, a private network or acombination thereof.

The CPTD 145, depending upon the call progress tone detection analysisperformed, may generate an indication of the progress of a call. In oneembodiment, the indications may be a “busy tone,” a “reorder tone,” a“ring back tone with no answer,” a “human speech with answer quickly,” a“human speech with pause detected after speech,” a “recorded humanspeech,” a “facsimile/modem,” a “Telco Intercept” and a “no energydetected before answer detect time expired.” These indicationsadvantageously allow the distributed call progress tone detection system100 to determine the correct processing to be performed on each call.For example, if the CPTD 145 indicated that it detected recorded humanspeech, the distributed call progress tone detection system 100 mayconnect an agent to that call. Thus, the agent would be connected to acall where the CPTD 145 detected that a human actually answered thecall. Of course, however, the present invention is not limited to theindications listed above. Other embodiments of the present invention mayemploy other types or additional indications.

The switching partition 140 also includes an input-output distributor(“IOD”) 142 that is configured to employ a circuit to interconnect theCPTD 145 and one of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149 toallow the CPTD 145 to perform call progress tone detection analysis withrespect to that line interface module. The IOD 142 may also interconnectany of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149 to any other of theline interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149. Additionally, the IOD 142 mayinterconnect any of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149 with acustomer station 190 or an agent station 192 via the packet network 130.In one embodiment, the IOD 142 may employ a Voice Over Internet Protocol(“VoIP”) to interconnect one of the line interface modules 146, 147,148, 149 with the customer station 190 or the agent station 192. In theillustrated embodiment, the customer station 190 may be a computersystem capable of communicating with the switching partition 140 via apacket protocol. The agent station 192 may be a computer system capableof communicating with the switching partition 140 via a packet protocoland having software programs that perform specialized functionsassociated with the distributed call progress tone detection system 100.The agent station 192 may also include a telephone station, any otherdevice or combination of devices that allows an agent (e.g., a person)to communicate with a customer via the distributed call progress tonedetection system 100.

In the illustrated embodiment, the circuit that the IOD 142 employs tointerconnect is a conventional circuit-switched matrix 144. Thecircuit-switched matrix 144 is configured to control and selectivelyinterconnect the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149 and the CPTD145. The circuit-switched matrix 144 may selectively interconnect theline interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149 and the CPTD 145 in anymanner. In one embodiment, the circuit-switched matrix 144 may beembodied within the IOD 142. Of course, however, the IOD 142 is notlimited to using a circuit-switched matrix. In other embodiments, theIOD 142 may employ any type of circuit to interconnect any number ofcall progress tone detectors and line interface modules.

The distributed call progress tone detection system 100 also may includea main control unit (“MCU”) 110 associated with the switching partition140 and couplable to the packet network 130. The MCU 110 performs calland control processing functions for the distributed call progress tonedetection system 100 and may include an MCU database 112. The MCUdatabase 112 may be a flat file system, a relational database, a customdatabase or a combination thereof and may be used to store callprocessing information, configurations and specialized programs. In oneembodiment, the MCU database 112 may be embodied in a separate device orwithin the MCU 110.

The MCU 110 is also configured to receive requests from an applicationover the packet network 130 and transmit call and control processingcommands to the switching partition 140. Additionally, the MCU 110 isfurther configured to create an interconnection between one of the lineinterface modules 146, 147, 148, 149 and another of the line interfacemodules, 146, 147, 148, 149 based upon the indication generated by theCPTD 145. The MCU 110 also notifies the application of theinterconnection. In one embodiment, the call and control processingcommands include a “no answer supervision command,” a “use networkanswer supervision command,” a “best try full analysis command,” and a“full call process analysis command.”

The no answer supervision command causes the MCU 110 to send a commandvia the packet network 130 to the switching partition 140. The IOD 142interconnects one of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149 to anavailable line and controls that particular line interface module tooutpulse digits and then connect that line interface module to anotherline interface module associated with an agent station without answersupervision. “Answer supervision” may include employing the CPTD 145 toperform call progress tone detection analysis, processing and routing(interconnecting) the call based upon the indication generated by theCPTD 145.

The use network answer supervision command causes the MCU 110 to send acommand via the packet network 130 to the switching partition 140. TheIOD 142 interconnects one of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148,149 to an available line (or trunk) and controls that particular lineinterface module to outpulse digits. The IOD 142 then causes the CPTD145 to be interconnected to that particular line interface module andperform call progress tone detection analysis. Then, based upon theindication generated by the CPTD 145, the MCU 110 sends a command to theIOD 142 to connect that line interface module to another line interfacemodule associated with an agent station. For example, the MCU 110 maysend commands to the switching partition 140 to cause the first lineinterface module 146 to be interconnected with the third line interfacemodule 148.

The best try full analysis command performs the same functions as theuse network answer supervision command except that if a call progresstone detector, such as the CPTD 145, is unavailable, the call request isqueued for a period of time specified by a tunable parameter. In oneembodiment, the tunable parameter is the maximum resource wait time. Ifthe call progress tone detector is unavailable at the expiration of thespecified time period, the call command is processed as the no answersupervision command. If the call progress tone detector becomesavailable during the specified time period, the call is processed justas the use network answer supervision command.

The full call process analysis command performs the same functions asthe best try full analysis command except that if the call progress tonedetector, such as the CPTD 145, is not available at the expiration ofthe specified time period, the MCU 110 will abort the call and informthe application that requested the call. Of course, however, the presentinvention is not limited to the control processing commands describedabove. Nor is the present invention limited to the methods forprocessing the call processing commands described above. Otherembodiments of the present invention may use different or additionalcontrol processing commands and methods for processing the controlprocessing commands.

In one embodiment, the MCU 110 is further configured to notify theapplication of the indication generated by the CPTD 145. The MCU 110, inanother embodiment, is further configured to auto-terminate a callplaced on one of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149, if anaccess node coupled to another of the line interface modules 146, 147,148, 149 is unavailable. For example, the MCU 110 causes a call to beplaced to the customer station 152 via the first line interface module146. Then, if the MCU 110 determines that there are no agent stations170, 182, 192 available to take the call, the MCU 110 will automaticallyterminate the call to the customer station 152. In another embodiment,the MCU 110 employs a timeout period associated with an availability ofan access node or access nodes to perform auto-termination. If thetimeout period elapses before an access node becomes available, the MCU110 auto-terminates the call. In a related embodiment, the MCU 110performs auto-termination based upon the indication generated by theCPTD 145.

Also associated with the distributed call process tone detection system100 is an application server 120 that is coupled to the packet network130. The application server 120 may contain the application thatcommunicates with the MCU 110 via the packet network 130. In a relatedembodiment, the application may be implemented in software executablewithin the MCU 110. The application may be one selected from anon-predictive dialer, a predictive dialer, an answering machine dialerand a call center. The application server 120 may also include anapplication database 122 to provide additional application specificfunctionality. The application database 122 may be a flat file system, arelational database, a custom database or a combination thereof. Theapplication database 122 may be embodied in hardware, software, or in aseparate device couplable to the application server 120. Those skilledin the art are familiar with non-predictive dialers, predictive dialersand call center applications. Of course, however, the present inventionis not limited to the types of applications described above. Otherembodiments of the present invention may use other types of applicationsand the application server 120 may contain any number of theseapplications.

The application within the application server 120 may, upon receivingthe notification generated by the CPTD 145, transmit informationassociated with original request sent to the MCU 110 to a terminalcoupled to another of the line interface modules 146, 147, 148, 149associated with the original request. For example, if the customerstation 152 is coupled to the agent station 170 via the first lineinterface module 146 and the third line interface module 148, theapplication may send information to the terminal 160 via the switchingpartition 140 and the second line interface module 147. The informationmay include the customer's name, address and associated salesinformation. Of course, however, the information sent to a terminal isnot limited to the types of information listed above.

Turning now to FIG. 2, illustrated is a block diagram of an enterprisecall center with call progress tone detection, generally designated 200,constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.The enterprise call center 200 includes a primary main control unit(“MCU A”) 210, a secondary main control unit (“MCU B”) 212, a switchingpartition A 240 and a switching partition B 290, all of which arecoupled to a packet network 230. MCU A 210 and MCU B 212 are configuredto process application requests, and perform call and control processingfunctions similar to the MCU 110 of FIG. 1. MCU A 210 and MCU B 212cooperate to form a redundant pair, thus providing the enterprise callcenter 200 with disaster tolerance when either MCU A 210 or MCU B 212fails.

In the illustrated embodiment, the packet network 230 may be a LAN, aWAN, a packet-switched network or a combination thereof. The packetnetwork 230 may employ a Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP), custom communication protocol, other network protocols or acombination thereof. The packet network 230, in one embodiment, alsoadvantageously provides the functions of both a communications link andan inter-processor link between MCU A 210 and MCU B 212, which hadpreviously been implemented with two separate physical links. Thus, thepacket network 230 allows MCU A 210 and MCU B 212 to be geographicallylocated anywhere.

In the illustrated embodiment, both the switching partition A 240 andthe switching partition B 290 include IODs 242, 292, circuit-switchedmatrixes 244, 294, CPTDs 245, 295, and line interface modules 246, 247,248, 296, 297, 298, respectively. The switching partition A 240 and theswitching partition B 290, and their associated devices, operate andhave the same functionality as the switching partition 140 of FIG. 1.The line interface modules 246, 297 are coupled to access nodes that aredigital equipment 250. The digital equipment 250 may be any device, suchas a computer terminal, that is capable of displaying information andperforming operator entry functions. In another embodiment, the digitalequipment 250 may be a conventional computer system that is configuredto execute specific applications associated with a call center.

The line interface modules 247, 298 are coupled to access nodes that areagent stations 260. The agent stations 260 may be a telephone station orany other device or combination of devices that allows an agent (e.g., aperson) to communicate with a customer via the enterprise call center200. The line interface modules 248, 296 are coupled to access nodes viaa PSTN 270 that are remote devices 280. The remote devices 280 may be aplain old telephone station (POTS), a computer system or any deviceassociated configured to communicate with the enterprise call center 200via the PSTN 270. Typically, the remote devices 280 are associated witha customer.

The enterprise call center 200, in the illustrated embodiment, includesan application server 220 that is configured to execute an application.The application server 220 may be a conventional computer server or maybe embodied within the MCU A 210, MCU B 212 or a combination thereof.The application may be selected from a non-predictive dialer, apredictive dialer, an answering machine dialer and a call center. Ofcourse, however, the present invention is not limited to the types ofapplications listed above. In other embodiments, the present inventionmay use any type of application and the application server 220 maycontain any number of applications.

In the illustrated embodiment, the enterprise call center 200 mayoperate by an application associated with the application server 220initiating a call request to MCU A 210. In this example, MCU A 210 isacting as the primary MCU and MCU B is acting as the secondary or backupMCU. MCU A 210 receives the call request and sends setup and callcommands to the switching partition A 240. MCU A 210 may select theswitching partition A 240 or the switching partition B 290 based onavailable line interface modules, available CPTDs, or based upon theloading of the switching partitions 240, 290. MCU A 210, in otherembodiment, may select between the switching partitions 240, 290 basedupon the location of the switching partition in relation to the remotedevice 280 (or customer), the digital equipment 250 or the agentstations 260.

In one example, the switching partition A 240 employs the IOD 242, thecircuit switched matrix 244, the CPTD 245 and the line interface module248 to call one of the remote devices 280 via the PSTN 270. Once theremote device 280, or a customer using the remote device 280, answersthe call, the switching partition A 240 employs the CPTD 245 to performcall progress tone detection. In this case, the CPTD 245 is detectingwhen a human has answered the call. Once the CPTD 245 detects a humanvoice, the switching partition A 240 and the CPTD 245 send an indicationto MCU A 210. MCU A 210 then finds an available agent station 260 andcreates an interconnection between the remote device 280 and the agentstation 260. In this example, the MCU A 210 interconnects the remotedevice 280 via the third line interface module 248 of the switchingpartition A 240, the packet network 230 and the third line interfacemodule 298 of the switching partition B 290.

The MCU A 210 also notifies the application associated with theapplication server 220 of the interconnection. The application may sendinformation associated with the remote device 280 called to the digitalequipment 250 coupled to the switching partition B's second lineinterface module 297 via MCU A 210. See FIG. 1 for a description of thetype of commands employed in this process and the types of informationthat may be sent to access nodes such as the digital equipment 250.

The enterprise call center 200 advantageously employs the packet network230 to allow its constituent devices to communicate via the packetnetwork 230, regardless of a location of a particular device. Theprimary and secondary MCUs (MCU A 210, MCU B 212) and the first andsecond switching partitions 240, 290 may thus be placed ingeographically separate locations, while retaining the functionality ofan integrated call center.

Turning now to FIG. 3A, illustrated is an example of a signal, generallydesignated 300, employable with a CPTD having energy detection inaccordance with the principles of the present invention. The signal 300contains sampled data points of peak-to-average ratios of a normalizedsound signal detected by a CPTD, such as the CPTD 145 of FIG. 1. In theillustrated example, the signal 300 includes silence, noise, speech andtones, such as dual tones and single tones. Of course, however, thepresent invention is not limited to the types of signals listed above.In other embodiments, the present invention may detect additional ordifferent types of signals and in any order or combination.

Some of the previous signal detection devices employed energy detectionwith guard bands to determine the type of signal, such as silence,noise, speech and tones. Energy detection with guard bands is discussedin U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,031, entitled “Signal Detection andDiscrimination Using Waveform Peak Factor,” to Richard L. Freudberg, etal. and is herein incorporated by reference. The guard bands 302, 304,306, 308 are regions where energy detection is not performed. Theprevious signal detection devices were mainly concerned with signalsthat were clearly within a given signal type range. This resulted in adelay in detecting the type of signal. For example, when the signal 300is in the noise range and transitions to the speech range, previoussignal detection devices would not detect any signals within the secondguard band 304. This resulted in a delay before speech is detected andan additional delay before any processing based on detecting speechwould begin.

Turning now to FIG. 3B with continuing reference to FIG. 3A, illustratedis an example of a signal, generally designated 310, employable with aCPTD having energy detection with guard band elimination constructed inaccordance with the principles of the present invention. In FIG. 3B, thesignal 310 is analogous to the signal 300 of FIG. 3A and containssampled data points of peak-to-average ratios of a normalized soundsignal detected by the CPTD.

FIG. 3B also illustrates the transition points 312, 314, 316, 318 wherethe signal 310 transitions from one type of signal to another type ofsignal. Since the guard bands 302, 304, 306, 308 are eliminated, theCPTD can detect the type of signal up to and past the transition points312, 314, 314, 316, 318. This decreases the amount of time required bythe CPTD to detect whether the signal 310 is silence, noise, speech ortones. One skilled in the pertinent art might think that detecting asignal type at one of the transition points 312, 314, 316, 318 might beprone to error. However, the CPTD has proven to be more accurate andfaster with the elimination of the guard bands 302, 304, 306, 308. Onereason the CPTD is more accurate is due to the CPTD analyzing moresamples at or near the transition points. The use of the guard bands302, 304, 306, 308 actually prevented the previous signal detectiondevices from sampling at or near the transition points 312, 314, 316,318. Thus, the previous signal detection devices merely analyzed samplesthat were clearly within a given signal type range.

Turning now to FIG. 4, illustrated is a flow diagram of an embodiment ofa method, generally designated 400, of operating a distributed callprogress tone detection system constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the distributed callprogress tone detection system first performs initialization in a step402.

After initialization, a MCU of the distributed call progress tonedetection system determines if there is a request from an application toprocess in a decisional step 404. The request, in one embodiment, may bea call initiation request sent from an application associated with anapplication server to a MCU via a packet network. FIG. 5 illustrates,using highlighted flow connections, a request being sent from theapplication server 120 to the MCU 110 via the packet network 130.

If there is no request to process, the MCU returns to determine if thereis another request to process in the decisional step 404. If there is arequest to process, the MCU processes the request in a step 410. The MCUthen transmits a transmit call and control processing commands to aswitching partition of the distributed call progress tone detectionsystem in a step 412. FIG. 6 illustrates, using highlighted flowconnections, the MCU 110 transmitting commands to the switchingpartition 140 via the packet network 130.

Next, the switching partition generates a call in a step 414. In oneembodiment, the switching partition employs an IOD to generate a call toa customer on one of the switching partition's line interface modules.In a related embodiment, the switching partition also employs acircuit-switched matrix to select a line interface module. FIG. 7illustrates, using highlighted flow connections, a call to the customerstation 152 via the PSTN 150, the first line interface module 146 andthe circuit-switched matrix 144.

Once the call is generated, the IOD interconnects a CPTD to the call andanalyzes the call in a step 416. In one embodiment, the IOD may employthe circuit-switched matrix to interconnect the CPTD to the call on theline interface module. FIG. 8 illustrates, using highlighted flowconnections, the interconnection between the CPTD 145, thecircuit-switched matrix 144 and the first line interface module 146 toallow the CPTD 145 to perform call progress tone detection analysis.

Then, the CPTD performs call progress tone detection analysis on thecall and generates an indication thereof. The CPTD, in one embodiment,may perform the call progress tone detection analysis employing energydetection. In a related embodiment, the CPTD may perform the callprogress tone detection analysis employing energy detection with guardband elimination. The switching partition then transmits the generatedCPTD indication to the MCU in a step 418. FIG. 9 illustrates, usinghighlighted flow connections, the switching partition 140 transmittingthe CPTD indication to the MCU 110 via the packet network 130.

The MCU then determines if the CPTD indication is valid in a decisionalstep 420. For example, the MCU may require that a human answered thephone instead of an answering machine in order for the CPTD indicationto be valid. The type of CPTD indication required for validity dependsupon the type of request made by the application. See FIG. 1 for adescription of the type of commands the MCU processes and the callprogress tone detection indications. If the CPTD indication is notvalid, the MCU terminates the call in a step 430. The MCU then returnsto determine if there is another request to process in the decisionalstep 404.

If the CPTD indication is valid, the MCU then finds an available agentstations in a step 440. The MCU may use an agent station that isdirectly coupled to one of the line interface modules of the switchingpartition or another switching partition coupled to the packet network,an agent station that is coupled to a switching partition via a PSTNconnection, or to an agent station that is coupled to the packetnetwork. Of course, however, the present invention is not limited to theexamples described above. In other embodiments, the present inventionmay use an agent station that is capable of being coupleable to thedistributed call progress tone detection system in any manner includingwireless connections.

Then, the MCU determines if an agent station is available in adecisional step 450. If there are no agent stations available, the MCUterminates the call in a step 460. The MCU then returns to determine ifthere is another request to process in the decisional step 404. If anagent station is available, the MCU sends one or more commands to theswitching partition to interconnect the agent station with the call onthe line interface module in a step 470. FIG. 10 illustrates, usinghighlighted flow connections, the interconnection of the customerstation 152 coupled to the first line interface module 146 and the agentstation 170 coupled to the third line interface module 148. In anotherembodiment and with reference to FIG. 10, the MCU 110 may cause thefirst line interface module 146 to be interconnected to the agentstation 192 via the packet network 130 employing a VoIP. The agentstations that may be connected to the customer stations, may bespecified by the application or specified in a configuration database,such as the MCU database 112.

Next, the MCU notifies the application of the interconnection in a step472. In a related embodiment, the MCU may notify the application of theinterconnect at the same time the MCU is interconnecting the call to anagent station. FIG. 11 illustrates, using highlighted flow connections,the MCU 110 notifying the application associate with the applicationserver 120 via the packet network 130.

Once the application is notified of the interconnection, the applicationmay send information to a terminal in a step 474. For example, theinformation may be related to the call, the customer, the seller,product information or a combination thereof. FIG. 12 illustrates, usinghighlighted flow connections, the application associated with theapplication server 120 sending information to the terminal 160associated with the agent station 170 via the packet network 130, theswitching partition 140 and the second line interface module 147. Inanother embodiment, the application may send the information to the MCUand the MCU then sends the information to a terminal associated with theinterconnected agent station. The MCU then returns to determine if thereis another request to process in the decisional step 404.

One skilled in the pertinent art should know that the present inventionis not limited to processing one request at a time. The presentinvention may process multiple requests at the same time each of whichmay be in different stages of processing or completion. Nor is thepresent invention limited to processing the requests described above.Other embodiments of the present invention may process additional typesof requests and may have additional or fewer steps than described above.

Turning now to FIG. 5, illustrated is a block diagram of a distributedcall progress tone detection system (such as the distributed callprogress tone detection 100 of FIG. 1) with highlighted flow connectionscorresponding to the method of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 5, highlighted are the flowconnections between the application server 120 and the MCU 110. Anapplication associated with the application server 120 sends a callprocessing request to the MCU 110 via the packet network 130. The callprocessing request may include a request to call the customer station152 via the PSTN 150. In another embodiment, the call processing requestcould also include a call to the customer station 190 via the packetnetwork 130. Of course, however, the present invention is not limited toprocessing a call processing request from the application server 120. Inother embodiments, the customer station 152, terminal 160 or the agentstation 170 may initiate requests to retrieve information from theapplication server 120 or the application database 122 via theapplication server 120.

Turning now to FIG. 6, illustrated is a block diagram of a distributedcall progress tone detection system (such as the distributed callprogress tone detection 100 of FIG. 1) with highlighted flow connectionscorresponding to the method of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 6, highlighted are the flowconnections between the MCU 110 and the switching partition 140. The MCU110 transmits call and control processing commands to the switchingpartition 140 via the packet network 130. Of course, however, thepresent invention is not limited to transmitting only call and controlprocessing commands to the switching partition 140. In otherembodiments, the MCU may send additional or different commands to theswitching partition 140.

Turning now to FIG. 7, illustrated is a block diagram of a distributedcall progress tone detection system (such as the distributed callprogress tone detection 100 of FIG. 1) with highlighted flow connectionscorresponding to the method of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 7, highlighted are the flowconnections between the circuit switched matrix 144, the first lineinterface 146 and the customer station 152. The switching partition 140,employing the IOD 142, made a call to the customer station 152 via thePSTN 150 on the first line interface module 146.

Turning now to FIG. 8, illustrated is a block diagram of a distributedcall progress tone detection system (such as the distributed callprogress tone detection 100 of FIG. 1) with highlighted flow connectionscorresponding to the method of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 8, highlighted are the flowconnections that represent the interconnection between the CPTD 145, thecircuit-switched matrix 144 and the first line interface module 146. Theinterconnection between the CPTD 145 and the first line interface module146 allows the CPTD 145 to perform call progress tone detection analysison the call made to the customer station 152.

Turning now to FIG. 9, illustrated is a block diagram of a distributedcall progress tone detection system (such as the distributed callprogress tone detection 100 of FIG. 1) with highlighted flow connectionscorresponding to the method of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 9, highlighted are the flowconnections between the switching partition 140 and the MCU 110. Oncethe CPTD 145 performed the call progress tone detection analysis andgenerated an indication, the switching partition 140 transmits theindication to the MCU 110 via the packet network 130.

Turning now to FIG. 10, illustrated is a block diagram of a distributedcall progress tone detection system (such as the distributed callprogress tone detection 100 of FIG. 1) with highlighted flow connectionscorresponding to the method of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 10, highlighted are theflow connections that represent the interconnection of the customerstation 152 coupled to the first line interface module 146 and the agentstation 170 coupled to the third line interface module 148. The MCU 110sent call and control processing commands to the switching partition 140to interconnect the customer station 152 and the agent station 170 toallow the customer station 152 and the agent station 170 to communicatewith each other. Of course, however, the present invention is notlimited to the type of interconnection described above. In otherembodiments, the present invention may interconnect multiple accessnodes together that are located within the same or different switchingpartitions or to access nodes coupled to the packet network 130.

Turning now to FIG. 11, illustrated is a block diagram of a distributedcall progress tone detection system (such as the distributed callprogress tone detection 100 of FIG. 1) with highlighted flow connectionscorresponding to the method of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 11, highlighted are theflow connections between the MCU 110 and the application server 120. TheMCU 110 notifies the application associate with the application server120 of the interconnection between the customer station 152 and theagent station 170 via the packet network 130. In a related embodiment,the MCU 110 may also notify the application associated with theapplication server 120 of the indication generated by the CPTD 145.

Turning now to FIG. 12, illustrated is a block diagram of a distributedcall progress tone detection system (such as the distributed callprogress tone detection 100 of FIG. 1) with highlighted flow connectionscorresponding to the method of FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention. In FIG. 12, highlighted are theflow connections between the application server 120 and the terminal160, via the switching partition 140 and the second line interface 147.The application associated with the application server 120 sendsinformation to the terminal 160 via packet network 130, the switchingpartition 140 and the second line interface module 147. The informationmay be customer information associated with the customer station 152 toallow an agent at the agent station 170 to be informed of the customeron the line. Of course, however, other or additional information may besent to the terminal 160 to assist the agent at the agent station 170.

Although the present invention has been described in detail, thoseskilled in the art should understand that they can make various changes,substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention in its broadest form.

1. A method of operating a distributed call progress tone detectionsystem couplable to a packet network, comprising: receiving requestsfrom an application over said packet network and transmitting transmitcall and control processing commands to a switching partition via a maincontrol unit; providing an interface to corresponding access nodes vialine interface modules; generating a call on a first of said lineinterface modules; employing an input-output distributor to interconnecta call progress tone detector and said first of said line interfacemodules to allow said call progress tone detector to perform a callprogress tone detection analysis and generate an indication thereof withrespect to said first of said line interface modules; and creating aninterconnection between said first of said line interface modules and asecond of said line interface modules based on said indication via saidinput-output distributor and notifying said application of saidinterconnection.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said callprogress tone detection analysis further includes performing energydetection.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said callprogress tone detection analysis further includes performing energydetection with guard band elimination.
 4. The method as recited in claim1 wherein said call progress tone detection analysis further includesreceiving at least one tunable parameter and adjusting said callprogress tone detection analysis on a call-by-call basis thereof.
 5. Themethod as recited in claim 4 wherein said at least one tunable parameteris selected from the group consisting of: a software answer detect time,a hardware answer detect time, a ring no answer time, a minimum callanswer time, a recorded human speech detect time, a maximum resourcewait time, and a pause wait time after speech detected.
 6. The method asrecited in claim 1 wherein said indication is selected from the groupconsisting of: a busy tone, a reorder tone, a ring back tone with noanswer, a human speech with answer quickly, a human speech with pausedetected after speech, a recorded human speech, a facsimile/modem, aTelco Intercept, and a no energy detected before answer detect timeexpired.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said line interfacemodules are dynamically configurable via program downloads.
 8. Themethod as recited in claim 1 wherein said call progress tone detectormay be embodied within at least one of said line interface modules. 9.The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said call progress tonedetector may be embodied within software downloaded to at least one ofsaid line interface modules.
 10. The method as recited in claim 1further comprising notifying said application of said indication. 11.The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said call and controlprocessing commands are selected from the group consisting of: a noanswer supervision command, a use network answer supervision command, abest try full analysis command, and a full call progress analysiscommand.
 12. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprisingauto-terminating a call on said first of said line interface modules ifan access node coupled to said second of said line interface modules isunavailable.
 13. The method as recited in claim 12 wherein saidauto-terminating further includes elapsing a timeout period, associatedwith an availability of said access node, before said auto-terminatingsaid call.
 14. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising saidapplication and wherein said application is selected from the groupconsisting of: a non-predictive dialer, a predictive dialer, ananswering machine dialer, and a call center.
 15. The method as recitedin claim 1 further comprising, upon receiving said notification,transmitting information associated with said request to a terminalcoupled to a third of said line interface modules that is associatedwith said second of said line interface modules via said application.16. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said input-outputdistributor employs a circuit-switched matrix to control and selectivelyinterconnect said line interface modules and said call progress tonedetector.